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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

Molybdenite Mountain Lookout Site

Pend Oreille County, WA summit lookout: L-4 cab built 1930, gone after 1958 (sources differ on removal vs fire); only a firefinder pedestal and few beams remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed, destroyed or burned in 1958 (sources differ); Willhite finds no visible footings in 2026 but a firefinder pedestal; SummitPost reports a few beams and a rusted Osborne Firefinder platform

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Summit is within Colville National Forest and reached by a hike; the trailhead is at a gated road. SummitPost says the lower west and southern flanks are probably private timber land.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Willhite: Ione Bridge, Sullivan Lake Road 4.4 miles to Dry Canyon Road, FR1936; trailhead at a gated road 7.3 miles from Sullivan Lake Road; wire in the boulder field on the route to the summit.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab, built 1930, on the summit near IoneThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,784 ft (2,068 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.71006, −117.28621
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-molybdenite-mountain

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 4.3 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1930 BuiltL-4 cab built on the summitSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. No record between 1930 and 1958
  3. 1958 BurnedWillhite says the cab was burned in 1958; his page refers to a picture of the cab burningSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1958 Destroyedfirelookout.com says the L-4 cab was destroyed in 1958Source: firelookout.com
  5. 1958 RemovedRegister says the L-4 cab was removed in 1958Source: firetower.org
  6. No record between 1958 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 17, 2012, nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  8. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Molybdenite Mountain is a high peak near Ione, in Pend Oreille County, Washington.1,2 The summit lies inside the Colville National Forest.3 A lookout once stood on top, and its L-4 cab was built in 1930.4,1,2,3

The Register lists the site at 6,784 feet, while Willhite gives 6,790 feet.4,2

The sources disagree on how the cab ended.4,1,2 The Register says it was removed in 1958.4 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.1 Willhite says the cab was burned in 1958, and his page includes a photo of the cab burning.2

Willhite visited in 2026 and could see no footings on the summit.2 He thinks the cab sat on a wooden foundation, which would account for the missing footings.2 The firefinder pedestal, a base used for locating fires, is still there.2 SummitPost reports that only a handful of beams and a corroded Osborne Firefinder platform are left.3 Willhite also notes that a large share of the phone line still lies on the ground along the north ridge.2

Willhite's route heads over the Ione Bridge, spanning the Pend Oreille River, then runs 4.4 miles along Sullivan Lake Road to Dry Canyon Road and onto FR1936.2 Measured from Sullivan Lake Road, the trailhead is 7.3 miles along, at a gate on the left.2 A SummitPost writer suspected that the lower slopes to the west and south are likely private timber land.3 Check current access before you go.

  1. Molybdenite Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/molybdenite.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Molybdenite Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/molybdenite_mountain/lookout_194.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Molybdenite Mountain, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/molybdenite-mountain/154031 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Molybdenite Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/molybdenite-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Molybdenite Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts Gave us: links WillhiteWeb.com · No licence stated; names and page links only (the site's photos and text are not reproduced). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, visiting details, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.